Students foster survivor support

The USC Survivor Support Community — launched this semester by Sammie Sorsby-Jones and Yi-Ann Li — aims to create a safe space for survivors to find community, emotional support and advocacy. 

Sorsby-Jones, a sophomore majoring in law, history, and culture,  and Li, a sophomore majoring in English and psychology, first met when they were 16 at a summer program in Rhode Island. In the span of three weeks, they bonded and were thrilled when they found out they both would attend USC in the fall of 2020. Connecting over a shared biology class, the pair became even closer throughout their first year on campus.

“We’d study for all our biology tests, and then we very much became closer over being survivors together,” Sorsby-Jones said. “I had the idea for a while, and then I was like, ‘Please join it with me.’ And yeah, it would not exist without [Li].”

Sorsby-Jones and Li, who serve as the club’s president and vice president, respectively, said they understand the unique challenges people face after experiencing sexual violence.

“You walk out of that office after the report, and there are no systems in place to help you stand back up when you freefall … You feel incredibly lonely and isolated,” Li said. “Because they have everything they need from me, till maybe they come back asking for more. So now I’m left on my own.”

The USC Survivor Support Community’s weekly meetings intend to cultivate an environment of openness and guidance to alleviate feelings of isolation, according to the club’s founders. Rather than demand administrative accountability, Sorsby-Jones and Li said they hope to spark change through healing and empowerment.

“[We need] much more open conversations, but in a way, that actually leads to community change — not in a way that’s just ‘Let’s throw money at a national organization without actually seeing how we contribute to this,’” Sorsby-Jones said. “What we have more control over is bottom-up [reform] and actually making really tangible change in our own communities.”

Last fall, USC faced nationwide criticism following multiple incidents of drugging and assault at the Sigma Nu fraternity that were reported to the Department of Public Safety between Sept. 25 and Sept. 30. After weeks of student-led protests, the University suspended the fraternity and later announced the suspension of four additional fraternities in a Jan. 18 communitywide email.

“I was one of the victim survivors from that incident … I was told that there were so many other people who were in the same shoes as me,” Li said. “I felt like there wasn’t quite a space on campus for survivors.”

Sorsby-Jones and Li cited the University’s lack of transparency and accountability following the 2021 reports as motivation to strive for change.

“There is so much confusion,” Li said. “There’s no transparency, no cohesive statement of support, and it just feels like there’s a lot more the administration and people in higher levels of the bureaucracy could be doing to try to better protect the students on campus.”

Weeks after the suspensions, the Interfraternity Council conducted an investigation after “multiple reports of potential violations of the moratorium on social events,” according to an email sent to the Daily Trojan from the organization Oct. 24. 

“It’s really fascinating to me to see how sexual assault on campus is this open secret,” Sorsby-Jones said. “The only difference, the only standout thing, about last semester, in terms of having a reckoning, was that people reported and there was a Universitywide email sent out … It’s not because there was more sexual assault, there was the same amount of there’s always been.”

The club’s Instagram has garnered more than 200 followers since its launch in January and aims to advocate and provide information regarding campus resources for survivors.

“We really wanted to bring advocacy into a personal light, because it’s a lot harder to … disagree with something when you know someone who it’s happened to,” said Kate McQuarrie, the director of advocacy at SSC and a sophomore majoring in English literature.

Li also hopes to discuss the unique struggle of being a survivor from a marginalized community through her role in SSC.

“There’s so much cultural stigma tied to different minority communities about [sex], that when I went through what I went through, I felt like there was nobody I could talk to — I wasn’t even sure if I could talk to my own parents about it,” Li said. “Part of my participation on the e-board in this club is trying to create a space for survivors in marginalized communities to understand that it’s okay to talk about it.”

SSC participated in the University Visions and Voices event, “Hues of Healing: Restorative Art Therapy for Survivors of Sexual Assault and Their Allies” Friday. Through meditation, art therapy and discussion, event planners intended to “foster a community where survivors feel safe, heard, and supported.”

“This event really helped people think of different ways on how to heal from their experiences, and meet new people that can help them as well,” said Ivy Riley, director of diversity, equity and inclusion for SSC and a freshman majoring in sociology.

The club plans to continue building its community through campus events and weekly meetings, which are open to survivors and allies.

“I really hope that my club will create an open dialogue around it because, far too often, these things are surrounded in silence,” Sorsby-Jones said. “I think of myself, even more than being a survivor, as just being a support to survivors.”

If you are in need of support, here are some resources you can contact:

USC Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention and Services: Located at Engemann Student Health Center Suite 356. Individuals can call (213)-740-9355 and request to speak with an advocate or counselor. Services are confidential. 

Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN): A free, confidential hotline that is active 24/7. Individuals can call (800)-656-4673.